


Look at the desperate man ( clutching with broken hands )

by sunnyskipper



Category: Minecraft (Video Game), Video Blogging RPF
Genre: Angst, Gen, Hurt/Comfort, Technoblade-centric (Video Blogging RPF), Time Travel
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-02-15
Updated: 2021-02-16
Packaged: 2021-03-14 22:56:08
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 4,095
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29426352
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sunnyskipper/pseuds/sunnyskipper
Summary: There's the smallest chance Techno regrets his actions, blowing up L'manberg not only once, but twice. He didn't have any other choice, Tommy had betrayed him and chose the side of Government again, even after his best friend exiled him because he chose the country over their friendship. Even so, he will never forget the look on Tommy's face as he pleas for him to stop, and listen to him, just this once, when he's been listening to him this whole time, he's been by his side and it's ended in utter betrayal. A weapon, that's all he is, a weapon to be used in war, but no more.He isn't sure he'd do things differently, he probably wouldn't be able to change the outcome anyways. With that in mind, when he wakes up seemingly on a normal morning, he finds Tommy hiding under his house again, exactly like he did the first time, looking... practically the same. The fearful glint in his eye, the nervousness in his voice and everything from how his clothes are torn to how he moves about, Techno pieces it together.He's been sent back in time, somehow. He's given a second chance to change his fate, and that of L'manberg, but...Does he really want to?( song; take me apart by SYML )
Relationships: No Romantic Relationship(s)
Comments: 6
Kudos: 93





	1. Wait, take me apart and I'll flow like water

_"I'm a person!"_

His own voice echoes inside his skull, it gives him a headache. His heavy eyelids open to the chirps of bird outside his window, and mobs groaning as they burn in the sunlight. Lying in his bed with his head resting on his hands that have gone numb, he doesn't move a muscle, staring up at his ceiling. 

Just yesterday, he destroyed L'manberg beyond repair with the help of Phil, and Dream. This time, they aren't building it back up. There's nothing more than a massive crater, the Withers and explosives left nothing to reminisce over. It's gone, at last, and he admits some sort of heavy weight did lift itself from his shoulders, only for dread and frustration to replace it. 

He would have never gone to such an extent if Tommy hadn't betrayed him, he brought it upon himself and Techno made sure he knew. He failed to get most of his words through that thick skull of his, so he expressed his feelings through actions. The traumatized sixteen year old boy watched with horror as his home he's already lost once, along with a brother figure, fell through his fingertips once again and like last time, he couldn't do anything about it. 

_"He deserves it,"_ a voice inside his head snarls, followed by more agreeing. He closes his eyes, and drowns them out with some effort. A few seconds pass in silence and he sits up, his long, tangled braids falling in his face. His hair's a mess, and at this rate it's easier to chop it off than attempt to fix it, but he's been growing it for years. He convinces himself he'll tend to it later, and lifts the pile over his face back on the other side of his head. 

He throws his legs over the edge and stands. He stretches, hearing a few pops and cracks, how long has he been asleep? Surely not long, it's early morning. Strangely enough, he doesn't remember falling asleep. 

With L'manberg gone, he isn't too sure what to do now. He supposes he can go back into retirement, the Government is no more and there's no way anyone has the guts to come knocking on his door seeking revenge. They're not that stupid. What do they plan on doing now? The vast majority of them are homeless now, but they should have seen this coming. As long as they don't try to form another Government and copy of L'manberg in it's place, they'll be fine, they've definitely learnt their lesson by now.

Perhaps for today, for the first time in far too long he can relax. See what Phil's up to, and if he's busy... he doesn't know what else he'll do instead. They're old friends, like, really old friends, but not only that, he's the only person Techno has left.

Phil suggested Ranboo moving into the area, but living on his own, and he wasn't really sure on the idea, but allowed it anyways. Ranboo seems like an okay guy, he took no part in the conflict and even though his friend is Tubbo, the President, he isn't on the Government's side. 

He makes his way down the ladder and continues to ponder on what he's to do as he walks through his house and, hang on, his dogs aren't near the fireplace. "Huh?" Thats... odd, they aren't anywhere around the house as far as he can see. He definitely had two sitting by the fireplace, they wouldn't have teleported, or died, so where did they go?

It doesn't make sense, it frankly baffles him, but instead of investigating further he goes through his chests, and he's missing a lot of items. Gapples, weapons among other things he knows for a fact were stored in there have disappeared. "What?" He closes it and steps back, collecting his thoughts. There's no way somebody stole from him just a day after Doomsday, and the only person he can think of is Tommy, but even then that doesn't add up. No way would Tommy want to even hear his name again, let alone come close enough to him to steal from him. 

He questions whether he put all that stuff in that chest in the first place, and checks again. They're gone, he searches the other chests and they're missing a few things, too. What in the world? Either he's losing his mind, or someone stole from him.

He goes with the latter, but there's not much he can do about it, they're long gone and the culprit is left unnamed. Whatever, he can grab plenty of more gapples and whatever else he lost, it's not too much of a big deal he figures. He heads outside, and the powerful, freezing wind hits his face, but it's comforting almost. Finally, no one will bother him. He wouldn't have seeked violence if they didn't force him out of retirement, again, it's their own fault. 

The snow crunches under his feet and a wave of calamity flows through him. He's home, it's over. That relief vanishes in an instant when he hears a startling neigh, and somehow, beside him behind fencing is none other than Carl, in diamond armor. "Carl! What are you doing here?!" There's absolutely no way it's him, but it is. He left Carl in a far away place where he's safe, it's impossible for him to have returned on his own. Which means... someone brought him back? The only person he can think of is Dream, but not even he knows where Carl hid. 

Caressing Carl's face, the horse happily neighs. _'This isn't good',_ is all Techno can think, and the voices in his head are drowned out as he stares past Carl, and sees another abnormality. He removes his hands from Carl, who lets out a pouty huff, and he runs past him. There should be a bee farm Phil helped build right next to his house, but it's gone. No remnants whatsoever, and Phil's netherwart farm has magically disappeared as well. 

He has to be going crazy, or someone really, really hates him to the point they're destroying his property. He slowly backs away, the voices accompanied by his own puzzled thoughts swirling around in his head. His chest grows tight, and he's never felt so panicked before. It's the uncertainty that's getting to him, how he can't figure this out, how and why it happened. 

He remembers the dogs by his fireplace missing, and rushes to the other side of his house, where normally he'd find the old house Ghostbur and Tommy built during their stay, and he stuffed all the dogs in there, but it's... nowhere to be seen, along with the dogs. Someone had to have destroyed the building, and killed every last one of his dogs, but that doesn't make any sense. None of this does, and it's driving him nuts.

His heart pounds in his chest, the voices grow so loud they give him a headache, before growing quiet again, and then repeating. They don't have a clue, either. It's like the buildings were never there in the first place. 

He takes out his communicator and hastily messages Phil.

 **Technoblade** : Phil

 **Technoblade** : Phil where are you??

His heart lunches, he tells himself to breathe and calm down, there has to be some kind of mistake. The cold's getting to him, he left his coat hanging up, so he returns inside for some warmth by the fireplace. The wind howls as he steps inside, and he slightly struggles to close the doors behind him, letting out a grunt.

He shrugs his shoulders, and his eyes land on the soothing fireplace that would help soothe his nerves, watching the fire flicker and dance. A thought crosses his mind that distracts him from its warmth, and he heads downstairs. His face goes pale at what he finds. There are still villagers in boats, but his cow is missing, and there's no ladder leading down. He made another floor downstairs to trade with villagers he cured, but it's no longer there. It's like these things never happened, but they did. So many things are missing with no clear explanation. 

He pulls out his communicator; still no response from Phil. That isn't good. It shouldn't be taking this long, he should be around the area, close enough to get here under a minute. So what's keeping him?

He hears noises coming from the ground directly under his feet, a voice. Maybe his villagers are still under there, and he isn't going crazy. Without thinking he digs through the stone beneath his feet, and finds a ladder. He hurries down it, expecting to find all his villagers in little cubicles on the walls, but that isn't what he finds. 

He can't believe his eyes, he has to be experiencing a fever dream or something other than real life. He's left stunned, refusing to believe what he's seeing before him. "I, uh, I gotta go─"

"Tommy?!"

Hiding under his house like the first time this happened, is Tommy, in an exact replica of the room filled with things he stole, the wall decorated in blocks of emerald. They're both at a loss for words. He can't believe after losing L'manberg, out of all places, Tommy chose to come back to him and hide under his house. 

He pauses that thought. Because there's no way it's true.

Tommy depises him, hates his guts and chose to team up with his former friends, and Tubbo to go against him. There is absolutely no way after everything, he comes crawling back begging for forgiveness. He knows Tommy, and that isn't something he'd do.

As Techno calms himself and takes in his surroundings, he notices a few things. How the room he's in resembles the previous one Tommy built perfectly, and the floor he dug out and all the villagers have miraculously vanished into thin air. His heart stops when he looks at Tommy, and focuses on his appearance. He's a mess; his clothes are torn, his revealed skin his covered in cuts, scratches and bruises, there are bags under his eyes that have lost their bright, lively blue and his hair has grown out, sticking out in all directions it's even worse than his.

He recognizes all of this. Not only does it remind him of the first time Tommy came running to him and used his house as a shelter after he Logstedshire and Dream's clutches, everything is too similar it's like he's been thrown back in time. He saw Tommy literally yesterday, and he looks nothing like he does now, and there's nothing he could have done in that short timespan to turn out like this; his skin is sickly pale and it seems like he hasn't had a proper feed in days, the joints and bones in his body are far too prominent. 

It is impossible for him to go from yesterday's appearance; a healthy recovery from this and appearing a thousand times better, to this, which could only happen over a prolonged period. 

His communicator dings, he receives a message from Phil. 

**Philza:** I'm sorry for taking so long, are you okay? I couldn't do anything, I'm sorry

His hands freeze, but he manages to type a response.

 **Technoblade** : What do you mean? Are you okay?

 **Philza** : They have me under house arrest, I couldn't stop them from executing you. You got out okay though, thankfully, were you planning on Punz helping you?

Techno squints, and it takes him a moment to process what he's talking about. The execution attempt at L'manberg, Phil couldn't save him because he's under house arrest for not telling the "Butcher Army" where his house is located. Punz and Dream aided him in his escape, but that happened ages ago...

All of this happened ages ago. His house is the same as when Tommy stumbled across his cottage, the day he narrowly escaped being executed and losing one of his lives. 

This isn't happening again for the second time, no one's came in and stole from him, and destroyed his builds... because they haven't been built yet.

He's been sent back in time.


	2. Chapter 2

Techno is confused, to say the least. There are a lot of unusual and strange things in the wide, vast universe, but time travelling is not one of them as far as he's concerned. Unless he's trapped in a peculiar dream he cannot wake up from, then that is what's happening; he's been sent back in time to finding Tommy under his house, and frankly, he has no idea how to deal with this.

He's backing back and forth, muttering under his breath as Tommy anxiously to the right of him, Techno's cloak thrown over his weak, fragile and terribly cold body. His kindness startled Tommy, who blabbered out a hasty apology upon locking eyes with Techno, ranting on about Dream being after him, etc, he's heard it all before. This occured days, weeks ago even, but it's happening again before his very eyes.

"Why are you here?" Techno whispered to himself, not directly addressed to Tommy as he continued pacing, but Tommy's head perked up. 

"I, I told you, Dream... I-I don't know what he's, uh, going to do, i-it makes my head hurt, honestly," he blurted out, scratching behind his ear. "He's a friend, or, enemy? He blew up Logstedshire, so doesn't that make him..." he shook his head, grabbing a fistful of Techno's bright red cloak and bringing it closer. "I don't know, but I don't... I don't think I want him to find me."

Techno came to a halt, and ran a hand through his hair, pushing it back. He heavily sighed, turning to Tommy and walking over, a floorboard creaked beneath him. Tommy's body visibly tensed up, tugging at the cloak around him he backed against the wall, his eyes fixated on Techno as he came near. 

What is he supposed to do?

Techno reached out a hand, but realizing his action, quickly pulled it back and looked away. He huffed, "you can't stay here," he informed Tommy. Who's face went sickingly pale, and his jaw slowly fell open as his mind processed the words.

Techno isn't about to go through this twice, he just needs to figure this out and find a way to return to his original timeline. On the other hand, this could still be a fever dream, or a nightmare even, and eventually he'll wake up. That's what he hopes for, at least, but unfortunately, he can't be certain. 

He turns away from Tommy, delving deep into his thoughts and the voices he hopes to seek guidance from, but as usual, they're no help. They don't have a clue, either, most of them are panicked or confused, and the remainder are questioning why he's ignoring Tommy. It's no secret he's in horrible condition, but hey, he survived last time, and Techno doubts he'll be here, in this timeline, for long. 

Tommy's sudden grip on his arm is so weak he doesn't even notice it until the voices point it out, and are repeating his name; _"Tommy, Tommy,"_ with concern. Techno breaks out of his thoughts, laying his eyes upon Tommy his gaze immediately softens. 

Tommy's cheeks are hallowed, the hand tightly gripping Techno's sleeve is shaking, his nails are cut back and his fingertips have dried blood. His skin is as pale as a ghost, he's basically nothing more than skin and bones at this point, Techno doesn't remember it being this... bad. It genuinely leaves him tongue-tied. 

"Please," Tommy begs, staring right into Techno's eyes, searching for any sign of sympathy. "I, I have nowhere else to go, Techno. Dream is my friend, but I... he's not happy with me, I... I can't go back to him."

He forgot how fragile and weak he'd been, and this was only a few weeks ago. The hatred for the young boy clouded his previous thoughts of him, but even when he saw him on the other side of the battlefield, L'manberg's crater, Tommy still had noticeable scars. But he'd grown, he overcame everything dragging him down and took his place back at the top. But he used Techno as a stepping stool to achieve it. 

Tommy doesn't receive a response, his hand falls to his side but he can't take his eyes off of Techno, who avoids making eye-contact. Inside his mind, his thoughts are all over the place and it's a mess, but on the outside, he's stone-faced. Tommy doesn't know what he expected, sympathy? To be let in with open arms? They're enemies, they were friends once, but that time is long gone. 

But he has no other choice. "Come on, Techno! I can do anything, I'll help you farm items, I, you won't even know I'm here! I can just uh, stay here in my little room!" He tries to reason with him, running past Techno and heads downstairs. 

Techno follows him down and grabs him by the neck of his coat and yanks him before he can hurry down the second ladder to his little hobbit hole. Tommy's body goes still, his feet dangling above the floor, Techno drops him and he lands on his feet, but stumbles. His back facing Techno, Tommy raises his shoulder and slightly hunches over, wrapping his boney arms around himself. For a moment, Techno thinks he's given up.

"I know we're enemies, arch-rivals, whatever you wanna call it," he begins, his voice noticeably smaller and missing the ambition. "But, I can stay here for just a day, can't I? It won't do you any harm, I promise! You won't even know I'm here. Here, take, take all of your stuff back," he spins around to face him and starts emptying his pockets, everything to gapples, emerald blocks and items that don't even belong to Techno. Everything falls into a pile on the floor.

He isn't doing this. 

"Tommy, stop, what are you doing?" He snaps, and Tommy flinches. He pinches the bridge of his nose and sighs, he picks up only what belongs to him, but misses two gapples. He hesitates to speak, and avoids doing so by climbing back up the ladder and putting everything away into chests. He knows Tommy follows him because he can hear his footsteps, just barely. 

Shoving everything into a chest, he closes it but pauses and thinks to himself. He can either kick Tommy out and avoid dealing with the kid annoying him for days on end for a second time, or allow him to stay, but frankly, he can't see why he would. 

"Techno, I have nowhere else to go. We can figure something out, can't we? Surely, there's something I can do in return," he's getting desperate, while still trying to maintain his pride, but his confidence is practically gone. 

Techno glances at him over his shoulder, and looks him up and down. What benefit would he get from this? Nothing, not when he knows how their story ends. Tommy betrays him, and L'manberg gets blown to smithereens. 

Is there a slim chance he could change that, though? But if he did, what would come out of it? There's no way of telling, and it's foolish to think Tommy wouldn't simply side with Tubbo again. No matter what, they've proven that they're closer than brothers, and that there's no separating or breaking their incredible bond. 

Tommy's eyes burn through him, and he doesn't know what he sees through them, but he knows the boy's afraid. Just how scared is he of Dream? He referred to him as a friend, after all, but at the same time... there are clearly some hidden complications behind that statement yhay neither of them can untangle yet.

His voices are torn between two options; yes and no. There's no obvious reward to either, asides from getting Tommy out of his hair. It'll help him think better, and he's gonna need to do a lot of that, and planning in order to return home.

Strangely, it's when the hope in Tommy's eyes begin to fade and he lowers his head that Techno makes up his mind, though he might come to regret it later on and by that time, it'll likely be too late. He closes the chest and turns to Tommy, who is taking off the cloak and holds it out to him. "Here," he mumbles, staring at the floor with a glum expression. 

Techno can't have the slightest tinge of sympathy for this boy. He's sixteen, he's gone through some rough patches, admittedly, but that's no excuse to how he treated him. He gave Tommy a home, so much armor and weapons, he cared for him and what did he get in return? Absolutely nothing, and lost so much more.

He snatches the cloak from him, throwing it over his shoulders and clips it at his neck. There isn't too much of a height difference between the two, but Tommy shrinks under his intimidating gaze, it's... unusual to see. He's used to the proud, courageous boy who never shuts up despite how many times he's told to, he's a beacon of light and no one can bring him down.

Or so, that's what Techno thought. 

"You can stay," he says in a gruff voice, and he's taken aback by how abruptly Tommy raises his head, locks eyes with him and his face lights up. Was that act of sadness a way to guilt trip him into saying yes? Before he can question it, Tommy reverts back to his loud, obnoxious self. 

"Yes!! Oh, this is great! You won't regret it, seriously, it'll be like nothing changed! You can do whatever you've been doing, and I can just be downstairs and─" Tommy's words get caught in his throat as he notices Techno's mortifying glare, and he gulps. He clears his throat and attempts to continue, but Techno doesn't let him.

"Under one condition," he warns, taking a step closer. "No more stealing any of my stuff, you got it? You want food, you ask for it. You want anything else, armor? Emeralds? You get it yourself," he instructs, perhaps a little too harshly, but he doesn't get the chance to think back on it. 

Tommy nods so fast he gets a little lightheaded, "yes! Right, you can uh, you can count on me!" He cracks a sheepish grin, slumped against the wall with his hands pressed against it. Techno stares down at him with narrowed eyes, and moves away, giving him some space to breathe. 

So, now he's stuck in the same situation as last time. Being a little more strict on him won't do a thing, he basically did whatever he pleased, not listening to him half of the time. He needs to find a way to get out of here, and fast, but he doesn't even understand how he came here in the first place. Regrettably, there's no one he can think of that knows anything about time travelling, let alone believe in it. It's a bizarre topic that shouldn't be real, but apparently it is, and he just had to discover it this way. 

He's not close with anyone, anyways, the only person he has on his side is none other than Phil. However, at the mention of "time travel" he'll either stare at him dumbfounded and ask why he would believe in it in the first place and call him insane in a joking manner, or just laugh in his face and then apologize. If Techno were to explain the problem, Phil would think he hit his head or something, and on the very slim chance that he does believe him, which is highly unlikely, what are they going to do then? He doesn't even know this occured, let alone how to get back. Phil won't have a clue.

In other words, he's screwed.

"So, what have you been up to, big guy? Just living here on your own?" Tommy asks, snooping around the house, as he's probably done earlier. 

Should he tell him? He could play it carefully, and stick to the original timeline as closely as manageable. _"Welcome home, Theseus!"_ His own voice echoes in his mind, vividly recounting showing his secret vault to Tommy. Purposely changing the future could mess things up to an unknown extent.

But to hell with it.

"Yeah," he responds in a monotone voice, leaning against the chests. "I'm retired, remember?"

What's the worst that could happen?


End file.
